Page 91 of So I Won a Werelion

“Absolutely not. It will be interesting to see if we have any more contact from them, now that their latest puppet will be spending some time in human jail, that’s all.” The last I saw Derek Jared he was in handcuffs and being loaded into the back of a police cruiser.

“It’s just a theory. Once Jenny springs me out of here, I can talk to Pedro, see if he’s willing to fill in any gaps for me since his boys got defeated. Again.”

“No wolf fights,” Jenny said. She was sitting in the chair on the other side of the room.

Hugo chuckled. “If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s to keep Jenny Connors happy, or she won’t let you have any of the delicious things she serves at the mercantile.”

“I worry about you boys. Doesn’t matter that you’re all grown now. If pie is a way to get you to stop fighting, so be it.”

“I should head out and let you rest.” It would be weird to have the house to myself tonight. After being a lone wolf for so long, I hadn’t expected to like having a roommate so much. I’d miss Wendy when she moved out. Maybe I could convince Hannah to move into the spare boudoir once we started her episode.

I blew Jenny a kiss and headed to the door.

“Bibi,” Hugo called after me. “There’s something else I’ve learned.”

“Do tell.”

“We shouldn’t worry so much about labels. Boss, host, head of security. We’re all on the same team. And once Jenny approves.” He glanced over at her with a smirk. “I’d like to take you on a date. A fancy one with candlelight and one of your sparkliest dresses.”

“I approve,” Jenny said. “And offer to cater this affair if you want to do something totally romantic.”

One would think he had me at fancy dress, but it was enough for him to simply be Hugo. “I’d like that.”

Chapter

Thirty-One

Wendy

“I missed these beds,” I said as I laid back on the pillow top mattress in our chalet suite. I’d stayed here in my brief stint as a Real Werewife. “It’s like sleeping on a cloud.”

“All you want to do is sleep?” Gabe crawled onto the bed next to me. “It’s okay if you do. You had a rough night.”

“Understatement.”

“I fucking hate the idea of what could have happened to you if no one was there to hear you scream,” he growled.

“Once I figured out I was in my house, I was pissed because who would look for me there? Everyone and their mother knew I was staying with Bibi, thanks toThe Mating Game.We’d made it sound like a fun girls’ bonding sleepover situation becauseit’s too dangerous for Wendy to go homeisn’t exactly the rating boon they had in mind when they invited me on the show. But then I remembered my sister lives next door, and while she might not help a screaming person herself, she would surely be quick to call the police on someone disturbing her peace.”

He grinned. “Ol’ Wanda finally comes in clutch.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. I don’t believe that she didn’t know anything about Derek’s plan.”

Gabe’s mouth dropped. “You think she was in on it?”

“No. She probably thought it would be a way to get me to be serious about real estate, that if the rich powerful guy had a crush on me and wanted me to make lots of money, maybe I would finally forget all about this shifter nonsense and settle down with a respectable human. Then when things got out of hand, she didn’t know how to stop them.” My sister had always been a thorn in my side, but she wasn’t a bad person. Flawed, absolutely. We all were. “And she hates to admit she’s wrong.”

“Will you accept her apology?”

“Eventually. I reserve the right to be mad about it for a little while.” I sighed. “I was hoping this was how tonight would end all along, but I thought we’d get here in a much different way.”

Gabe propped himself up on his elbow. He looked so adorable in his black emergency sweats from the back ofThe Mating Gamevan. “I was pretty excited about tonight. I had a feeling you were about to do something really sexy when I saw that pole on the stage.”

“Oh yeah?” I was absolutely exhausted. The only thing keeping me going was pure adrenaline and the need to make this horrible night better. “What did you have in mind?”

He scraped his teeth against his bottom lip, and the bed vibrated with his purring.

“I was picturing you working that pole, your naked body twisting around it—”

---